Lafourche considers lengthening weekend bar hours

The Lafourche Parish Council is considering whether later bar-closing hours on the weekend would provide an economic boost or a law enforcement problem.

Xerxes WilsonStaff Writer

The Lafourche Parish Council is considering whether later bar-closing hours on the weekend would provide an economic boost or a law-enforcement problem.The council is scheduled to decide Jan. 22 whether to give Lafourche bars the option of staying open until 3 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings. Bars would still have to close at 2 a.m. Monday through Friday mornings — the same time required throughout the week now.The change would not apply to bars in the incorporated areas of the parish. Thibodaux, Lockport and Golden Meadow have their own regulations. “Bars right now are in terrible shape because of the down economy,” said Councilman John Arnold, who introduced the proposed change. “This would help them out.”Arnold owns Club Illusions on La. 1 near Lafourche Crossing. The club was formerly known as the G-Spot strip club. Arnold said it is closed and will reopen as a night club.“That extra hour is going to help out each bar owner,” Arnold said. “Consider there are 20 to 25 bars in the parish. ... They each have about five to 10 employees. They will benefit.”Arnold also argued the parish would benefit from extra tax collection and increased video poker royalties.But not everybody is convinced.“I don't know about it,” said Councilman Daniel Lorraine. “I'm going to listen to the public and see what they want.”Lafourche Sheriff Craig Webre said he is opposes the change. “The existing law has functioned well for the 30 or so years it has been in place,” Webre said. “To expand it further will create safety issues. Particularly with impaired drivers and such.”Webre also said there will be a greater likelihood of alcohol fueling other crimes such as domestic violence. There are no plans to change Thibodaux's 2 a.m. bar-closing ordinance if the parish passes the change, said Ryan Perque, executive assistant to the Mayor Tommy Eschete.“You would have another problem if the people in Golden Meadow and such leave (at 2 a.m.) and then drive somewhere in the parish for an extra hour of consumption before driving back to their home,” Webre said. Arnold said he will ask the change be made for a six-month trial period. If anything goes wrong in that time, the law will revert back to a 2 a.m. closing requirement.“The idea of the trial period opens itself to the possibility for irreversible harm,” Webre said.Not all bar owners support the idea. “First of all, I don't need no regulations,” said Bobby Beck Grabert, owner of Beck's on La. 1 in Raceland. “I have enough government regulations. If they are asking me for my vote, I don't see if the extra hour is going to make or break me.”Grabert has owned his establishment for 23 years and said he wouldn't change the hours if the ordinance allowed.“If you have a bar with 200 people, it would help,” Grabert said. “But with my size establishment and my patrons, it isn't going to do much.”